Dean's Future: Fight Or Fold?

Sen. John Kerry is hoping another big win in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary will force his major rivals to get out of the race and throw their support to him. But Sen. John Edwards and former Gov. Howard Dean insist they're in the race for the long haul.

Dean's insistence comes despite the fact that some of his top advisers, including his national campaign chairman, are urging him to abandon the fight if he loses in Wisconsin.

In recent days, Dean has signaled he is considering scaling back his campaign or reshaping it, not withdrawing, if he doesn't pick up his first win of the campaign season Tuesday.

Campaign chairman Steve Grossman said if Dean stumbles in Wisconsin Dean would seek to convert his grass-roots network into a movement that helps expand the party and elect the Democratic nominee.

"I have no doubt he'll support the nominee in any way he can, no matter who the nominee is and obviously that nominee looks to be John Kerry," Grossman said in a telephone interview from Vermont. "He may say that Tuesday night. He may wait until Wednesday or Thursday to say that."

Campaign officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Dean is torn between his pragmatic conclusion that the race is about over and his emotional attachment to the fight itself and his supporters. For the moment, emotions and a fighting instinct are holding sway.

But the signs on the campaign trail — huddled meetings involving aides, the absence of a formal schedule beyond Tuesday and dozens of empty chairs at events such as one in Racine, Wis., on Saturday — indicate the end is near for a candidacy that just six weeks ago was first in polls, fund raising and momentum.

Dean, however, vows he's not quitting. Leaving a campaign event Monday, he was asked if he would pull out if he lost on Tuesday. Dean's reply, reports CBS News Correspondent Peter Maer, was, "Absolutely not."

Edwards has also resisted suggestions that the contest is over and that Kerry has wrapped up the nomination.

At Sunday night's Democratic debate in Milwaukee, the North Carolina senator said, "Not so fast, John Kerry," after his Massachusetts colleague declared he would beat President Bush.

"We're going to have an election here in Wisconsin this Tuesday," said Edwards. "And we've got a whole group of primaries coming up. And I, for one, intend to fight with everything I've got for every one of those votes."

But polls continue to show Kerry, who has won 14 of 16 contests so far, running away with the race. The latest Zogby poll in the Badger State gives him a 47 to 23 percent edge over Dean, with Edwards running third at 20 percent

After vying in Wisconsin and its 72 delegates, the remaining candidates will focus on March 2 elections in California, New York, Ohio and seven other states.

In Sunday's debate, Kerry successfully kept criticism away from himself and aimed instead at Mr. Bush, leaving the frontrunner unscathed and as strong as ever heading into Tuesday's primary, reports CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer David Paul Kuhn.

Dean and Edwards were given several chances to criticize Kerry during the 90-minute debate, but they seldom took advantage.

Dean in particular was uncharacteristically lenient on his leading rival. At one point, Dean rose to defend Kerry from Republican attacks that he is beholden to special interests, even though Dean himself has leveled similar charges.

"I think George Bush has some nerve attacking anybody about special interests," the former Vermont governor said.

"I was somewhat surprised that they didn't go after Kerry," John McAdams, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, said. "It does appear that Dean and Edwards have given up. In Edwards' case, it makes sense – he is on the short list of vice presidential candidates."